What to Wear to Meet the Pope: Kyleigh Kühn Shares Her Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

Kyleigh Kühn and her mother, Heidi, were invited to the Vatican for last week’s 50th-anniversary celebration of Pacem in Terris, a work by Pope John XXIII advocating peace across the world from an interfaith perspective. As representatives of Roots of Peace, their humanitarian organization dedicated to the removal of land mines in war-torn regions, the pair were part of a group of nonprofit leaders, and recently spearheaded a de-mining project in areas of Israel and Palestine. Here, Kühn recounts her meeting with Pope Francis.

There are quite a few hoops you have to jump through to get into the Vatican itself. First off, you have to present yourself to the Swiss guards who are dressed in this bold-striped regalia and look like they’re out of another century entirely. There’s quite a bit of waiting around before you’re ushered through to the room, which is packed with cardinals—who are actually incredibly stylish in their robes—before the Pope makes his address.

Even though I couldn’t understand everything, there’s a genuine heartfelt manner to his presence that translates. After the speech, everyone was invited to come up and shake his hand and present a gift to him. Some people presented art, others gave him handwritten notes from their grandkids. Back when we started Roots of Peace, my mother’s idea was to turn mines into vines in wartorn Croatia, so we worked with vintners in Napa Valley on the project. Miljenko “Mike” Grgich was one such vintner and he’d asked us to deliver a magnum of his prizewinning chardonnay in a custom box to the Pope, which we did. When you go to meet the Pope, there’s no guarantee that he will actually be able to see you because his schedule can change at any moment, so when my mother packed the magnum in her suitcase it was on a leap of faith. It was really great that we were able to present it to him in person.

Obviously, figuring out what to wear that morning was quite important. My mom and I went back and forth about whether to wear the mantilla, the lace veil traditionally worn in the Roman Catholic Church, but decided against it this time. And looking around the room, none of the women were wearing it either. I think the new Pope is much more focused on the essence of people than anything else and would have given us the same welcome had we shown up in soccer jerseys.

I wasn’t really nervous, but there is definitely this surreal moment, being in the beautiful hall surrounded by gorgeous frescos in the presence of the Pope, and you want to pinch yourself. I had originally wanted to wear a cute contrasting plaid shirt with my over-the-knee plaid skirt, pieces I found in my favorite vintage store Aubergine in Marin County—I think maybe I was still in fun Fashion Week mode! My mom advised me to wear something a little more classic, so I chose an embroidered black blouse instead, and I’m glad I did. After all, it’s the kind of picture that I’ll keep for years and years to come. It would be a shame to look back on it one day and think, What on earth was I wearing?